Sesame Street Action Figures

Hello, I want Pallisades to create Sesame Street action figures, playsets and PVC's, because I think that it's almost thirty-five years old. This would be similar to The Muppet Show and here are my ideas if you agree or not.

Mikealan, a few questions for your ideas if you please.
1 When you say Big Bird in necktie as an exclusive from S1, do you mean to have Big B in some sort of formal attire to serve as a counter to Tuxedo Kermit from Palisades' S1?
2 Why are the series planned to include either five or six figures as the regular lineup? Are you planning to have some of these added to the series lineup even though they're not released as an official part of the line like Koozbane Kermit from Palisades' S4?
3 With regards to the question above, shouldn't your fourth, sixth, and seventh series be fragmented into halves either as different waves of the same series or separate series thus totaling 10 series? And why so many exclusives planned for the series characters?
4 Now let's see what we can do about bringing some of these ideas into development. Been mulling this one over for a while tonight to get you started on the rest.
S1 Big Bird: If the plan is to release a figure version of Big Bird of the same quality as Palisades' Muppets line, and if this figure were to be made in scale with the character itself and the rest of the figures in the line, then it would have to be along the lines of the proposed figure of Sweetums and also measure either 11.5 to 12 inches tall including the three head feathers individually sculpted. Very few accessories could be packaged with this figure, but there's one that might help its sales. The figure of Big Bird would take up the space in the center of the plastic tray and bubble placed on the cardboard backing. However, there could be a long cylindrical space to the figure's right occupied by the Sesame Street lamppost. The Sesame Street sign is packaged below the figure in its own blister similar to the bases from Palisades first three series. The sign would have two little connector rings at the edge to help it connect around and onto the lamppost. The upper left hand corner could also hold a smaller figure of Little Bird.
Articulation: Little Bird could have an articulated head which allows for some side-to-side motion, flapping winglike hands, and fully swiveling feet. Not sure if a figure this small could contain such points of articulation and still be included in the overall packaging.
Big Bird would have fully rotational head, neck, opening beak, shoulders, arms at the elbows, torso, and legs with pegholes in the bottoms of his feet.
Hope this gets the creative juices flowing.

Let's keep on with Mikealan's proposed Sesame figure lineup.
S1 Tagline: Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Ernie: Mikealan already said that the Twiddlebugs would be packed in with this figure. First off, the figure of Ernie would be moved over to the right of the plastic tray. That way we can fit in the accessories to the left of him. If Scooter from Palisades' S3 and Reporter Kermit from S4 will have a ton of accessories, then I don't see a problem with packing a limited number of added pieces to the figure of Ernie. Next to Ernie, there's a shiny brass bugle made to fit into Ernie's hands and Rubber Duckie in an upper portion of the center of the plastic tray. The left margin of the tray is filled in with a window sill flower box for the Twiddlebugs. A small beige or ivory white soap dish is pressed into the plastic under Rubber Duckie, and the four Twiddlebug figures are placed in the remaining space of the tray. The Ernie figure should probably have the same build as the figure of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew from Palisades' S1. Of course, it would have Ernie's black hair above his head rather than leave the figure bald. He's also wearing his classic red and blue horizontally striped shirt, blue jeans, and red sneakers. The shirt's neck and wrist cuffs are yellow, and thin stripes of gold and white separate the red and blue stripes of his shirt.
Articulation: Ernie would have head swivel, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, legs, and feet. The Twiddlebugs would have limited articulation in their heads, necks, arms, legs, and wings. Not really sure if their hands and feet should be articulated as well. All four: the tall violet mommy, squat blue daddy, the older and taller red daughter, and the smaller orange son, would be able to maneuver into their flowerbox home and fly around the other figures when played with. A smallish classic house could be built into the flowerbox for the Twiddlebugs and a set of patio chairs could be built in scale underneath a few blooming flowers. Rubber Duckie can either fit into Ernie's hands or be placed on his soap dish.

Here's the next figure part of Mikealan's proposed Sesame Street Action Figures s1.

Oscar The Grouch: Mikealan said that this figure would include a figure of Slimey the Worm, Oscar's pet worm. Well then, how's this? The figure of Oscar shows his fully furry body, reaches just a little bit taller in its height than the Ernie figure, and is placed to the right inside the plastic tray. A tattered umbrella stands to the figure's left and serves as a walking stick. There are two trash can lids stacked together towards the lower left corner of the plastic tray, which both fit either inside the figure's hands as clashing cymbals or underneath as miniature flying saucers. Three rusted tin cans connected by a thin plastic strand lines the top of the plastic tray, ready to be clutched by the figure and rattled at any rude onlookers. The figure of Slimey the Worm and an apple occupy the remaining space inside the tray. The apple has a hole near its top just snug enough for Slimey to crawl into.
Articulation: The figure of Slimey has limited articulation thanks to its swivel head and the joints near the center of his body, allowing him to bend around any branches or obstacles in his path. Oscar's figure has articulation points including a swivel head and neck, torso, legs, ankles, shoulders, wrists, and elbows. The combination of the shoulders and elbows helps bring the umbrella cane into a more natural walking position at the figure's side.

The rest will have to wait for later, but at least now we're halfway through with the regular lineup proposed by Mikealan for Sesame Street Series 1.

Hey about those sesame street action figures, I have an idea for palisades. Palisades with the big bird playset, this is how I picture it. So there is the doors to big bird's nest. The doors are able to open and close . Then inside there are all of the accessories that are on the tv show. So then there is a big nest about 4inches wide,2 inches high. Then the playset should be big enough to fit Mr.Snuffleupagus. Then with the exclusive big bird with a tie, the action figure should come with an assortment of ties. Another playset shold be the sesame street live stage. The stage should be at least be 20-25 inches wide and then the circular stage should be 8 inches wide. Both stages should be able to conect together. When you put it together,there is a clicking sound. The stage has the logo and has a backstage kind of like the muppet show backstage. But the stages should be able to have up to 20 characters. The stage is about 25 inches or 35 inches high. Which means that it is able to have about 2 big birds standing on top of each other. Those are some of my ideas for some collectors items.

One of my ideas of a playset is big bird's nest. It includes the doors to big bird's nest,the nest, the accessories, and the tubes. The nest should be wide enough for big bird to sit down into and stand up in. The nest should look exactly like the one on the tv show. Then there is the portrait of Mr. Hooper,the bird version of the Mona Lisa,a bubble-gum dispenser, a clock without the hands, a football helmet, a golf bag with one club, a hurricane lamp, a megaphone, a roman bust, a tricycle wheel, a watering can, an old record player, an umbrella, a mailbox, snowshoes, and big bird's bookshelf with books. Then inside besides all of those accessories, Mr. Snuffleupagus should be able to fit fully on the playset. Then with the playset, a Big Bird action figure should come with it.
Another idea that I have is different big bird action figures from different decades of sesame street. There should be a big bird action figure from 1969, 1971,1982,1990, 2001,2006 etc. Then there are special edition big bird action figures. There is a big bird action figure where he has on a tuxedo. Another should be where big bird has on various items. Those are some of the exclusive big bird action figures.
An idea that I have for a playset is the sesame street live stage. It is two pieces. One of the pieces is the circular stage and the other is the main stage with the background. The main stage has a main curtains which are blue. They're able to lift up and split apart. When the curtains raise or split, there is the sesame street block background. Then there are little fine lights sewed onto the backdrop. This is just the basic Sesame Street Live playset. Then both stages are able to connect to each other. When they connect to each other,there is a clicking noise. There is the main frame. On the main frame there is the Sesame Street Live logo. With the playset,there are accessories. Some of the accessories are spotlights,piano,instruments,etc. But that is what I picture the playset to be.
Another playset could be the muppet theatre. The muppet theatre is two pieces into one. There is the outer part which has the marquee and main enterance with the entry to the theatre seats and balcony and the second part is the stage and seats. The stage has the red velvet curtains. When you open the curtains,there is the muppet show logo. Behind the logo is a chair attached to the logo. The large "o" opens and closes. There are other backgrounds like the one with the painted statues on the vincent price episode when sweetums is talking to vincent. Onthe stage there is an orchestra pit. The orchestra pit has animal's drumset, nigel,music stands,an upright piano, instrument cases,etc. But those are all that I can think of right now

This thread makes me sad! If only Palisades would've lasted through the first few waves!

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Me too. The worst part is, it's a cursed line (both companies that attempted it went bankrupt just as they were making them... I'd call that a curse)... and there's never going to be an opportunity like that... at least for another 5 years, and i don't think I'd even bother buying them 5 years down the line. I said it in the replicas thread, but Mattel paid lipservice to a potentially profitable 40th anniversary line with overpriced reused figures of too little characters. I hope Hasbro does better.

Me too. The worst part is, it's a cursed line (both companies that attempted it went bankrupt just as they were making them... I'd call that a curse)... and there's never going to be an opportunity like that... at least for another 5 years, and i don't think I'd even bother buying them 5 years down the line. I said it in the replicas thread, but Mattel paid lipservice to a potentially profitable 40th anniversary line with overpriced reused figures of too little characters. I hope Hasbro does better.

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The action figure industry is very tough and both companies Fun 4All and Palisades Toys were small fish compared to Hasbro, Mattel or even NECA. Remember a time when NECA had so many things announced that either got canceled or took forever to actually come out? So that's why I wouldn't call Sesame Street cursed.

I also think that toy companies think there are a wealth of toddler toys on the market featuring figural representations of the characters so high-end collectibles aren't on anyone's mind. There's got to be other internal struggles as well because I think a Sesame figure line would be golden - even if it were a higher quality PVC line including all cast members.

How it could be done? Smaller-scale pairs with an accessory and/or set piece. Elmo in a new outfit for every wave. Irritating but necessary as is including various versions of other key characters redressed. Here's kind of the idea for a $12 SRP:

The action figure industry is very tough and both companies Fun 4All and Palisades Toys were small fish compared to Hasbro, Mattel or even NECA. Remember a time when NECA had so many things announced that either got canceled or took forever to actually come out? So that's why I wouldn't call Sesame Street cursed.

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Hey, if I were a toy company, I wouldn't touch it. Yeah, I could go on about the over saturation of TERRIBLE action figures (cough cough... mostly from MacFarline... cough cough). And you gotta admit, Palisades DID have a bit too many products at once at some point. I'm completely disappointed they jumped on the Lego style figures though... and the blind box stuff they did was WAYYY ahead of its time. But there was a LOT of garbage on the shelves from various third string companies at the time. I always hated "Twisted Children's Fairy Tale" Cool sculpt for the sake of cool sculpt breakable junk that came out of lesser companies (again, MacFarline) at the time. Now it's all about vynals... and even then, they're becoming passe. I actually have like 3 of them (A Smurf, Sabertooth and Michelangelo) and I only got them because they were on sale.

All I want is at the very TINY least a decent quality affordable PVC set series like I've said hundreds of times. Hasbro's buddy packs would be perfect. I'd see the first couple lines being simplistic Ernie, Elmo, Big Bird (though, if he were to be in scale, he'd be sold separately) type stuff with more fan favorites later on.

Hey, if I were a toy company, I wouldn't touch it. Yeah, I could go on about the over saturation of TERRIBLE action figures (cough cough... mostly from MacFarline... cough cough). And you gotta admit, Palisades DID have a bit too many products at once at some point. I'm completely disappointed they jumped on the Lego style figures though... and the blind box stuff they did was WAYYY ahead of its time. But there was a LOT of garbage on the shelves from various third string companies at the time. I always hated "Twisted Children's Fairy Tale" Cool sculpt for the sake of cool sculpt breakable junk that came out of lesser companies (again, MacFarline) at the time. Now it's all about vynals... and even then, they're becoming passe. I actually have like 3 of them (A Smurf, Sabertooth and Michelangelo) and I only got them because they were on sale.

All I want is at the very TINY least a decent quality affordable PVC set series like I've said hundreds of times. Hasbro's buddy packs would be perfect. I'd see the first couple lines being simplistic Ernie, Elmo, Big Bird (though, if he were to be in scale, he'd be sold separately) type stuff with more fan favorites later on.

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McFarlane's stuff actually does pretty well. It's his Simpsons Movie and clunky Hannah Barbara lines that kind of stunk up the shops and even those were quality representations of the characters. But now McFarlane is focused on sports figures. I just don't understand the appeal, but to each their own tastes.

Vinyl is still very much in-style. There is an oversaturation of it and Disney has rebranded it so much with their Vinylmation figures that the average person thinks they invented the craze!

I think Sesame Workshop could make a mint releasing wildly repainted pudgy sculpts of Elmo, Ernie, Oscar and the gang for collectors of all ages. I don't think they have capitalized off their characters the best way they can. Some say it's because Sesame isn't supposed to be a commercial machine, but that's what funds their programs and I've seen some really cynical toys out there before. I think the license and design hoops must be difficult because they really could do a lot with the brand and there are plenty of smaller-scale companies that would love a stab at it.

McFarlane's stuff actually does pretty well. It's his Simpsons Movie and clunky Hannah Barbara lines that kind of stunk up the shops and even those were quality representations of the characters. But now McFarlane is focused on sports figures. I just don't understand the appeal, but to each their own tastes.

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I liked when they first came on the scene with their Austin Powers, Shrek and Beatles lines (I wish I had more of the Beatles stuff... sadly never had the money when they were around). Then when they did those ugly monstery things, the whole company just got too big and just made statues disguised as action figures. I got the Hong Kong Phooey one, but I was mortally afraid to open it.

Personally, I just don't like the blind box Ginsu figures. They seem to be totally alien to why Japanese blind box figures have so much appeal. And other than the line of Bust Ups, the TRUE market of small, buildable mini statues is an untapped market.

Plus, they don't even have candy in them. I once got this amazing Golgo 13 figure (at half the cost the American counterparts cost EVEN with import fees)... came with a little package of Smartees like candy.

Anyway... yeah...getting back to topic

I think Sesame Workshop could make a mint releasing wildly repainted pudgy sculpts of Elmo, Ernie, Oscar and the gang for collectors of all ages. I don't think they have capitalized off their characters the best way they can. Some say it's because Sesame isn't supposed to be a commercial machine, but that's what funds their programs and I've seen some really cynical toys out there before. I think the license and design hoops must be difficult because they really could do a lot with the brand and there are plenty of smaller-scale companies that would love a stab at it.

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The thing that I don't get is that when it comes to T-shirts, they do some pretty adult stuff (Not as adult as a TMNT shirt I can't even say the caption of... let's say it's one of the most x-rated double entendres possible... and 4Kids licensed it), but they seem fumble thumbs when it comes to everything else. I can't express how lackluster the 40th anniversary stuff was, and how much of a wasted opportunity it became. Recession or no recession. But then It seems that Fisher Price wasn't all that good with toys anyway... Elmo Tickle Hands? No way those would sell.

All I'm asking for is another line up like this... maybe double pack them similar to what Mattel failed at doing... It seems like the most cost effective way to get out more fan favorite characters... some that didn't even get to be merchandise yet. I'm not saying they should go crazy and make Don Music or anyone like that. Just a nice The Count or Guy Smiley. Characters that still manage to pop up today. They can get out of the doldrums of just Elmo and make some scratch too.

That idea about th Tyco line sounds good. I would also add Biff and Sully to the mix (and also Abby Cadabby and Murray Monster).

But at least Palisades DID release one Sesame figure, the exclusive Super Grover. Of course I find it a little weird that they'd release Super Grover as a convention exclusive. I would have expected Super Grover to be strong enough to be released in the regular figure line, as Super Grover is one of the more popular character variants, was used outside his own sketches, seems to me like (at least since Eric Jacobson started performing the character) the majority of street stories starring Grover involve Super-Grover, and since the recasting it seems like most of Grover's appearances in street scenes had him as either Super-Grover or a mailman (during the time that the Mail-It Shop was on the street), and at the time it seems like Super-Grover was being used quite frequently. Considering that I wouldn't have been surprised if Palisades released Allistar Cookie as an exclusive. But it gets me thinking: If a toy company got the license to make a new Sesame Street figure line, which would come first: regular Grover, Super-Grover, or Super Grover 2.0 (I guess if the last one came first it would most likely depend on whether that identity were still being used on the show)?

I liked when they first came on the scene with their Austin Powers, Shrek and Beatles lines (I wish I had more of the Beatles stuff... sadly never had the money when they were around). Then when they did those ugly monstery things, the whole company just got too big and just made statues disguised as action figures. I got the Hong Kong Phooey one, but I was mortally afraid to open it.

Personally, I just don't like the blind box Ginsu figures. They seem to be totally alien to why Japanese blind box figures have so much appeal. And other than the line of Bust Ups, the TRUE market of small, buildable mini statues is an untapped market.

Plus, they don't even have candy in them. I once got this amazing Golgo 13 figure (at half the cost the American counterparts cost EVEN with import fees)... came with a little package of Smartees like candy.

Anyway... yeah...getting back to topic

The thing that I don't get is that when it comes to T-shirts, they do some pretty adult stuff (Not as adult as a TMNT shirt I can't even say the caption of... let's say it's one of the most x-rated double entendres possible... and 4Kids licensed it), but they seem fumble thumbs when it comes to everything else. I can't express how lackluster the 40th anniversary stuff was, and how much of a wasted opportunity it became. Recession or no recession. But then It seems that Fisher Price wasn't all that good with toys anyway... Elmo Tickle Hands? No way those would sell.

All I'm asking for is another line up like this... maybe double pack them similar to what Mattel failed at doing... It seems like the most cost effective way to get out more fan favorite characters... some that didn't even get to be merchandise yet. I'm not saying they should go crazy and make Don Music or anyone like that. Just a nice The Count or Guy Smiley. Characters that still manage to pop up today. They can get out of the doldrums of just Elmo and make some scratch too.

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I agree. And they're doing some great things with the Scooby Doo brand now that I think would work great for Sesame. Figure SetsTwo PacksSingle Packs and Other Items
This isn't pie-in-the-sky stuff. I can easily see it stocked on Toys R Us shelves.